British American Tobacco - Stakeholder engagement

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Stakeholder engagement

A commitment to open dialogue

We engage with a wide range of stakeholders at local, regional and global levels on our key sustainability issues.

Listening to our stakeholders helps us better understand their views and concerns and respond in the right ways. It gives us valuable feedback on our policies, procedures and ways of working so that we can continually improve and strengthen them. It provides us with opportunities to put our views across, helping our stakeholders understand our positions.

This long-standing approach has seen many positive outcomes over the years, including the development of our business and marketing principles.

We also actively share our experience and expertise with others, which can help to raise standards across the industry and make a valuable contribution to wider society. For example, openly sharing our scientific research and approach to product stewardship helped result in the first national standards for Vapour Products in the UK and France.

Who we engage with

Anyone who is impacted by, or can impact upon, our business operations is a stakeholder of British American Tobacco. They include:

Shareholders and investors

Employees and contractors

Suppliers, business partners and farmers

Customers – retailers, wholesalers and distributors

Adult consumers and smokers

Governments and regulators

Scientific and public health communities

Industry and other peer companies

Key opinion leaders, experts and academics

International organisations, such as the United Nations and International Labour Organisation

Standards bodies and organisations, such as ISO, the British Standards Institution (BSI) and CEN, the European Standards Body

Law enforcement agencies and customs bodies

Trades unions, employee and supplier groups

NGOs and development agencies

Media and journalists

Local communities and the general public

How we engage

Our engagement with stakeholders takes many different forms. Here are some examples.

Partnerships, collaborations and memberships

Stakeholder panels of leading experts to provide opinions on, and inform, our programmes, such as our External Scientific Panel and our new Sustainability Stakeholder Panel

Formal partnerships, such as the Eliminating Child Labour in Tobacco Growing (ECLT) Foundation

Sustainability groups, such as Business in the Community, the Institute of Business Ethics, the Institute of Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability, the All-Party Parliamentary Corporate Responsibility Group and the EU Business and Biodiversity Platform

Local partnership projects with the industry, NGOs, governments and peer companies, to support local communities and the environment

Cooperation agreements to tackle the illegal tobacco trade, such as with the European Commission, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and with local governments, customs and law enforcement

Collaborations and studies with scientific research partners and inventors.

Contributing our expertise and sharing information

Working groups, such as with the BSI, CEN and ISO on Vapour Product standards, and the UK Digital Policy Alliance on online age-verification

Submissions to government consultations, such as on the development of new regulation

Corporate publications, websites and social media channels

Investor meetings and roadshows and submissions to the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices

We openly share our scientific research on www.bat-science.com, through publications in peer-reviewed journals and by participating in international conferences and workshops.

Ongoing dialogue and engagement

Support for farmers through our Leaf Extension Services, farmer clubs and capacity building